Photo courtesy of Cornerstone Therapeutic Equine Center.
Today in advance of Memorial Day, we’re shouting out programs such as Cornerstone Therapeutic Equine Center, a San Diego-area equine therapy program that was founded in 2007 as an equine therapy program serving children, youth and adults with physical, cognitive and emotional special needs. The program’s commitment to service members began in 2008 when Cornerstone was invited to participate in a pilot program designed to identify and address the needs of wounded, ill and injured military personnel.
With bases for the Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard within its boundaries, San Diego County has a large community of active-duty military and veterans. “In the early stages of the pilot program we learned that San Diego has one of the highest populations of wounded service members in the country,” explains Cornerstone founder Judy Beckett. “In addition, we found there is a tremendous need for alternative therapies that are non-clinical, non-pharmaceutical and non-psychiatric.”
While continuing to work with the broad population, the experiences and challenges of the military community became clear as distinct from those of civilians. In 2017, Cornerstone turned its focus exclusively to the military.
The remarkable results that emerged from ongoing research begun that year helped inspire Cornerstone’s focus.
These included:
· A 92% decrease in suicidal thoughts
· A 94% decrease in depression
· A 91% decrease in stress and anxiety among those participating in its equine assisted therapy.
“There are many programs in the area that do a great job with kids and others with special needs,” Judy explains. “We happen to be really good at the specialized services that benefit those with military-related PTSD.”
Certified by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, Cornerstone became the first equine therapy enterprise in San Diego County to stand up programs specifically for service members. “We felt we could best serve our country by serving them,” Judy explains.
PTSD, suicidal ideations, depression, anxiety, fear, survivor’s guilt, anger, paranoia and loss of a limb are a few of the conditions for which the Cornerstone team is trained to help its clients. Support for family members and care givers is also available, and frontline medical worker COVID fatigue was added to the roster of conditions addressed in 2020.
To learn more about Cornerstone Therapeutic Equine Center, click here. You can also read more about the program and its partnership with Haygain here.
U.S. Weekend Preview
VHT International & H.T. (Lexington, Va.): [Website] [Schedule] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]
Spring Coconino H.T. (Flagstaff, Az.): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring] [Volunteer]
Equestrians’ Institute H.T. (Cle Elum, Wa.): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring] [Volunteer]
Flora Lea Spring H.T. (Medford, NJ): [Website] [Scoring]
May-Daze at The Park H.T. (Lexington, Ky.): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring] [Volunteer]
Mill Creek Pony Club H.T. (Kansas City, Mo.): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring] [Volunteer]
Mystic Valley Hunt Club H.T. (Gales Ferry, Ct.): [Website]
Willow Draw Charity Show (Weatherford, Tx.): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring]
The Spring Event at Woodside (Woodside, Ca.): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]
Major International Events:
Barefoot Retreats Houghton Hall CCIO4*-S: [Website] [Info Hub] [Entries] [Scoring]
Wednesday News & Reading
One of my favorite parts of spending a few months in Ocala was the sheer number of schooling venues and opportunities that were available. Coming from the Midwest, where you worked your schedule around planned schoolings (all of the events in Missouri and Kansas are held on public park land, so you can’t just go and school at any time), it was a literal eventer’s paradise. But there are some odds and ends to take care of if you’re going to haul in to a venue to school. This helpful article from STRIDER on the USEA’s website is good to keep handy.
Badminton Horse Trials annually awards a “Farrier’s Prize” for the best-shod horse (honestly, this would be such an incredible thing to have at all events/major events) — Burghley also awards a Best-Shod Horse prize. This year, Welsh farrier Jim Blurton took home the prize for his work shoeing Oliver Townend’s Swallow Springs. Jim has won this award four times in its 25 years of running — the most of any other farrier. Dive into the full story and details on the farrier work at Badminton on Fran Jurga’s blog, The Hoof Blog.
Did you know that vitamin E supplementation of broodmares can help their foals build a stronger immune system? Research suggests that this process, done in late gestation and early lactation, can help the foal receive a higher number of antibodies. Learn more in this research blog from Kentucky Performance Products.
Watch This on H&C+: Your H&C+ membership gives you access not just to a plethora of live streams, but also a full library of educational and entertainment content. For example, OTTB owners out there might enjoy the Back to Basics episode centering on nutrition for Thoroughbreds.
Wednesday Video Break
#TIL (today I learned) that in Belgium, horses are used for shrimp fishing!
